Radha holds a village household together through debt, flood and a son who breaks. Mehboob Khan directs. Nargis’s performance is the centre of the film. It was India’s first Oscar nominee for best international film.
The story
Radha spends a lifetime keeping a family and a field alive after her husband leaves. The film asks what a mother is allowed to do when her own son becomes the threat. Mehboob Khan directed. Nargis plays Radha. It opened in 1957 and is one of the few films from that decade that a general audience still knows by name.